By Raychael Moseley/ Managing Editor

Missouri Valley College started the new academic year with a new Vice President of Academic Affairs, welcoming Cynthia Bice who takes over the position vacated when Elizabeth Bellamy left MVC last semester.  

Freshman Laura Corbin expressed her excitement for this new chapter.

“I am excited to see what she does for Valley and the students here on campus,” she said. “To hear that she has an open door policy is something I feel is important on the academic side of student life.”

For her part, Bice said she wants to emphasize student representation.

“Students need to be represented on many committees but especially academic committees,” she said.

Bice talked about the school’s turnaround in terms of employment in her office. She also wants to learn and figure out what worked in the past and what didn’t work in order to create an efficient change in the department. 

“I have operational goals and aspirational goals,” she said. “Aspirationally, I really hope to create an environment that has a culture of care whether it’s students, staff, or faculty. Our word is our reputation. I have an open door policy for all students.”

Bice is passionate about her role and is excited to get to work on her goals.

“Another goal of mine is to have academic excellence and innovation, and this means increasing retention rates by reimagining the student experience,” she said. “We want to increase completion rates and continue conversations with alumni to see what worked best for them throughout their program.”

MVC student Jaiden Bridges is also happy about the change.

“I am very excited that Dr. Bice has come to Valley,” she said. “I think she will do great things for the school as a whole.”

Bice got her postdoctoral degree at Yale University. Before working at Valley, she served as Dean of faculty and chief academic officer at Miami Dade College in South Florida, where she found success in many of the things she hopes to turn around at Valley. Bice is excited for this year and to be closer to her daughters, who live in Missouri.